Mike,
Like yourself, I am completely new to pools, this web site, and maintaining all these chemicals. Two weeks ago I filled our pool after swearing last year I would never try this again. Luckily I tripped over this web site while goggling some questions. My kids wanted the pool back up and I felt like I needed to try at least once more. I can tell you just as sure as I'm writing here today that's the best decision I've made all summer.
Over the past two weeks I have read just about everything imaginable here and I can tell you if you stick to what the members here are saying, in no time at all you will completely understand what is going on with your pool and how these elusive chemicals work together. Trust the BBB method. Right now my water is humming. It is clear as glass and my kids and wife are having a blast in it. So am I.
This is what I did. I had water delivered. The PH level was crazy high so I brought it down were it should be using Muriatic Acid. I then added enough 6% Chlorine to bring that level where it should be. My next step was to add stabilizer because I wanted to get the CYA level in check so I didn't have to keep adding allot of Chlorine. It took around one week for the CYA to settle in and hold my PH level steady. In the meantime, it rained a little and what not so my PH level dropped a bit. Last night I added Borax and brought the PH back to a nice 7.6 level. I then shocked the pool bringing the ppm level up to 12. Today it's total harmony.
Stay here, trust what your reading and own your pool. I will go back to the pool store, but that's because I want a bigger pool.
